You know you’re in store for something different when the welcome mat reads “Jimmy Hoffa is buried here,” and the front door has a mug shot of the late Frank Sinatra.

Welcome to the South Florida Crime Museum, a hole-in-the-wall tourist spot in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea that was opened earlier this year by Fort Lauderdale attorney and crime history buff Chris Mancini. The museum has a kitschy assortment of collectibles from the early 1900s to the late 1990s that Mancini has gathered through the years from friends in law enforcement.

There are chain cuffs, police riot gear and an old police telegraph, as well as vintage helmets and hats from the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

“They don’t put this stuff in your basic museum,” said Mancini, who lives in Deerfield Beach. “We don’t extend our reach beyond South Florida. There is enough crime here to last us for the rest of eternity.”

At the entrance of the museum is a poster of gangster Al Capone with a cigar in his mouth inviting visitors “to take a selfie with Uncle Al.” His image is attached to a mannequin dressed in a white tuxedo and blue tie.

Susan Stocker / Sun Sentinel

The entrance to the South Florida Crime Museum features a life-sized photo of Al Capone.

The entrance to the South Florida Crime Museum features a life-sized photo of Al Capone.

(Susan Stocker / Sun Sentinel)

Walk deeper into the museum and your eyes shift to the “South Florida Wheel of Misfortune”, a giant circus-like wheel with famous local mug shots of figures including Larry King, Jim Morrison and former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega).

In the 1900s to 1920s section, there’s a portrait of Julia Tuttle, “the Mother of Miami;” and a photo of South Florida mobster Meyer Lansky, who was “considered one of the most financially successful mobsters in American history,” according to the information card under his photo.

Of note, a black-and-white photo of the first Fort Lauderdale city jail built in 1909 before the city and Broward County were created. “The jail was wooden and the walls were double-layered with three cells to accommodate two prisoners each,” read the informational card.

Susan Stocker / Sun Sentinel

The "Wheel of Misfortune" contains a collection of photos of Florida's infamous criminals.

The "Wheel of Misfortune" contains a collection of photos of Florida's infamous criminals.

(Susan Stocker / Sun Sentinel)

There are also, in the 1930s section, photos and articles of former Broward Sheriff Walter Clark and his brother and deputy chief Bob Clark, who were known for “a wave of violence and corruption in Broward County,” according to the informational card.

Skip ahead to the 1980s and there’s the 1985 mug shot of Griselda Blanco, who was known “la madrina’’ or “the godmother” during Miami’s drug wars. Above her, the 1981 Time magazine cover which declared Miami as “Paradise Lost.”

For folks who want to capture their visit to the museum, there’s the “Take A Shot” section, where they can dress up in a black-and-white striped inmate uniform or a Broward sheriff’s deputy uniform to snap a mug shot.

“We let everyone put on real police uniforms and real crook uniforms,” said Mancini. There are also old and modern booking and fingerprinting devices, breathalyzers. Lie detectors, too.

“We have kids’ lie detectors, the sweat on their fingers gives off a small shock,” he said.

Speaking of shock, there’s a replica of “Old Sparky,” the Florida electric chair, and mug shots of people such as serial killer Ted Bundy, who were executed that way.

In addition to the museum, which is free to enter, there’s an occasional van tour that covers crimes in the downtown Fort Lauderdale area. The tour costs $15 per person, lasts about 2 hours and makes at least three stops: at Stranahan House, the historical district along Himmarshee Street, and Evergreen Cemetery, “which is always a big hit because there are so many interesting people buried there,” said Mancini. The van tours don’t have a set schedule.

The tour, which starts and ends at the museum, includes the era of Prohibition, drug smuggling, the history of gambling, and the wacky things that South Florida criminals have done. For example, he talks about Steven Mulhall, the Coral Springs man who snatched a nameplate from the door of a Broward Circuit judge's courtroom and posted a picture of it on Facebook.

“It’s a never-ending supply of idiots,” he said. “There is too much material.”

In the late 1990s, Mancini led a “murder, mystery and mayhem tour” every three to four months for members of the Miami-Dade Historical Society. But after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mancini was busy practicing law and stopped the tours.

Still, the idea to resurrect something that would highlight South Florida crimes was in the back of his mind.

“I said, if I am going to do this, I better do this now before I lost interest,” recalled Mancini. “I love it. This is so much fun compared to practicing law.”

The South Florida Crime Museum is at 213 Commercial Blvd., Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. It is free and open daily, but the hours vary. For more information about the museum or tours, visit crimetoursmuseum.com or call 954-281-8810.